Han Sai Por
Encyclopedia
Han Sai Por is a Singapore
an sculptor
. A graduate of the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts
(NAFA), East Ham College of Art, Wolverhampton College of Art (now the School of Art and Design of the University of Wolverhampton
) and Lincoln University, New Zealand
, she worked as a teacher and later as a part-time lecturer at NAFA, the LASALLE-SIA College of the Arts, and the National Institute of Education
, Nanyang Technological University
, before becoming a full-time artist in 1997.
Han has participated in exhibitions locally and abroad, including events in China, Denmark, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand and South Korea. Her first solo exhibition
, entitled Four Dimensions, was held at the National Museum Art Gallery
in 1993. Her sculptures can be found around the world, in Osaka
and Shōdoshima
, Kagawa Prefecture
, in Japan; Kuala Lumpur
and Sarawak
in Malaysia; and Washington, D.C.
In Singapore, sculptures commissioned from her can be seen at Capital Tower, the Defence Science Organisation National Laboratories, the Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay
, the National Museum of Singapore
, Revenue House
, Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 3, Suntec City Mall, and Woodlands Regional Library
. In 2001, Han was the founding President of the Sculpture Society (Singapore) and remains its Honorary President. She was the first artist in residence
at the Society's Sculpture Pavilion at Fort Canning Park in 2009, where she worked on sculptures made from the trunks of tembusu
trees.
Han is probably best known for her stone sculptures with organic forms, examples of which include Growth (1985), Spirit of Nature (1988), Object C (1992) and Seeds (2006). The last work, presently located in the grounds of the National Museum, consists of two large kernels
carved from sandstone
excavated from Fort Canning Hill
during the Museum's redevelopment. However, her oeuvre is broad, and includes Four Dimensions (1993), a collection of geometrical structures; and 20 Tonnes (2002), also installed at the Museum, which consists of a row of six ridged monolith
ic blocks with a smaller block at either end, all hewn from a single granite
rock.
For her contributions to art, Han was conferred the Cultural Medallion for Art
in 1995. She was also the winner of the sculpture and painting section at the 11th Triennale – India organized by the Lalit Kala Akademi
(National Academy of Art of India) in 2005, and the Outstanding City Sculpture Award in China the following year.
during the Japanese occupation
. She was one of six children of a poor couple, and her family were squatters
living in Changi
in a house made of cardboard boxes and coconut leaves. Nonetheless, Han had a happy childhood, and went to a nearby beach to make figurine animals out of sand. This experience helped her to appreciate nature and instilled in her a sense of adventure and exploration. At ten years of age, Han was introduced to Michelangelo
's sculptures through a book given to her by her mother.
Han was educated at Yock Eng High School (now Yuying Secondary School
) and subsequently at the Singapore Teachers' Training College between 1965 and 1968. While working as a teacher, she attended part-time courses at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts
(NAFA) from 1975 to 1977. Having saved some money, she went to the United Kingdom where she studied fine art at the East Ham College of Art (1979–1980) and the Wolverhampton College of Art (1980–1983), receiving a B.A. (Hons.)
in Fine Art from the latter. She worked as a cook, hotel maid, waitress and street artist
to support herself.
Han returned to Singapore in 1983 and was one of the two pioneer teachers appointed to the new Arts Elective Programme at the Nanyang Girls' High School
. In 1987, to support her personal artistic endeavours, Han also began to teach part time at NAFA, the LASALLE-SIA College of the Arts (both 1987–1993), and the National Institute of Education
, Nanyang Technological University
(1994–1996). Subsequently, she pursued further studies in landscape architecture
at Lincoln University
in Lincoln
, Canterbury
, in New Zealand.
, which has been described as "definitely a high point in the history of art in Singapore when an exceptionally wide spectrum of artists expressing in an equally wide range of mediums participated in a single art event". Han's first solo exhibition
was Four Dimensions at the National Museum Art Gallery
from 18 to 28 February 1993. Other solo shows she has given in Singapore are Rainforest (Plastique Kinetic Worms, 1999) and 20 Tonnes – Physical Consequences (Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts
ARTrium, 2002).
Han became a full-time sculptor in 1997. Her works can be found around the world: Childhood Dream (1992) at the Uchinomi-cho
Town Hall Garden on the island of Shōdoshima
in Kagawa Prefecture
, Japan; Pisces (1993) at the Yashiro Hoshi-no Choukoku Centre Park in Osaka
, Japan; Spirit of Nature III (1990) at the Kuching
Waterfront Development in Sarawak
, Malaysia; Towards Peace (1987) in the Kuala Lumpur
Lake Gardens, Malaysia; and Cactus, Tropical Leaves (both 1994) and The Wave of Life at the Embassy of Singapore in Washington, D.C. In Singapore, sculptures commissioned from her can be seen at Capital Tower (Shimmering Pearls I, 1999), the Defence Science Organisation National Laboratories (Tropical Brain Forest, 2003), the Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay
(Seed Series, 1998), the National Museum of Singapore
(20 Tonnes, 2002; and Seeds, 2006), One Marina Boulevard
(Progressive Flows, 2004), Orchard MRT Station
(Goddess of Happiness, 1985), Revenue House
(Spring, 1996), Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 3 (Flora Inspiration, 2007), Singapore Changi Airport VIP Complex (Singapore – A Garden City, 2004), Suntec City Mall (Chinese Zodiac Medallions, 1995), UOB Plaza
(Two Figures, 1993), and Woodlands Regional Library
(Rain Forest).
In 2001, Han was the founding President of the Sculpture Society (Singapore), and remains its Honorary President. In May 2009, she was the first artist in residence
at the Society's Sculpture Pavilion at Fort Canning Park where she worked on sculptures made from the trunks of tembusu
trees. The project, sponsored by the Asia Pacific Breweries Foundation
Inspire Programme, was intended to provide sculptors and installation artists with studio space and a chance to interact with the public in a park environment. Han is a member of the Fourth Singapore Note and Coin Advisory Committee from 1 July 2008 until 30 June 2011, where her duties include advising the Monetary Authority of Singapore
on designs for new currency.
In 2005, with the assistance of the National Arts Council (NAC) and the Jurong Town Corporation
(JTC), she relocated from Seletar Air Base to Workloft@Wessex, a walk-up apartment in Wessex Estate which had been converted by JTC from an army camp into an artists' village.
and marble
, she has said: "Stone is one of my favourite materials. In the erosion of rock by wind and water are found original, vital qualities which express the significance of life." Han often purchases stone using her own resources from quarries in China, Italy, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore. The cost of just the material for solo exhibition pieces can be up to S$
20,000. Nonetheless, she is motivated by the encouragement, recognition and acknowledgement her art she receives from others. Examples of Han's sculptures of this genre include Growth (1985), a set of five pear-shaped forms in white marble; Spirit of Nature (1988), three black granite ovoid and spheroid forms; Object C (1992), a pale grey granite object resembling a canoe; and Seeds (2006), large kernels
carved from sandstone
excavated from Fort Canning Hill
during the National Museum's redevelopment. Art historian and critic T.K. Sabapathy has commented that Han is concerned with the uneasy relation between men and nature in the modern era, and has expressed a desire for people to realize that "[we] are part of nature and not apart from nature". In addition, he has said:
Beyond Han's sculptures which embrace organic forms, she has also designed geometric pieces. Four Dimensions (1993) was made up of ten geometrical structures, including single objects (such as Tetrahedron–Tetrahedron Interpenetration) and opened-up planes (Cubic Triangle) connected with each other through the use of angles, and light and shadow. Han said: "My works are based on the concept of mathematical logic. The idea is to show how each step is based on the previous one so that the geometrical forms progress in logical sequence ... The fourth dimension is abstract. It cannot be seen or touched. It contains the feelings and talents of Mankind. We wish to possess this space and to open it up for all people to share." Sabapathy was somewhat critical of these works, saying that they dealt only with techniques and fabrication and did not "disclose fresh insights into space and its articulation". He expressed the hope that Han would stay the course and deepen her investigation beyond form into an exploration of light, colour and materials to "create environments in which form, space and time can be seen to be related in ever-changing yet intelligent systems".
20 Tonnes, first exhibited in 2002 in the atrium of the MICA Building
(formerly the Old Hill Street Police Station
) and now permanently installed in front of the National Museum, consists of a row of six ridged monolith
ic granite blocks with a smaller block at either end, all hewn from a single rock. Han called the work "an explanation of nature's physical reaction when it is impacted by force, gravity and energy", and commented: "When I am working on stone, the immediate context is physical, the force of hammering, chiseling and drilling hard stone creates heat and energy. The reaction of the particles causes sparks and waves of sound. The appearance of the stone is the result, the consequent physical reaction. Understanding the character of nature through the physical context has become part of my sculpture."
According to art curator Tay Swee Lin, Han's sculptures "exude smooth, sensual lines that are quietly engaging and tactile", and her art "is a testimony of beauty with meditative quietness belying a resilience and strength that stone and metal encompass. The artist's personal relationship with her art is one that is complete – her sculptures are crafted by hand from start to finish; painstakingly carved, sanded and polished. ... In land scarce Singapore, Han's work encapsulates the appreciation and understanding of the delicate balance of nature that exists in an urban environment."
In the catalogue accompanying her Four Dimensions exhibition, Han said: "Postmodernism
accepts the facts that art does not follow any rigid man-made rules. If the artist says, 'this is art' then it is art, provided only that the artist can demonstrate a valuable idea or concept. Art needs man to judge and decide whether it is indeed art."
in Dorset
, England, by the Arts Council of Great Britain
and the National Arts Council (NAC) in 1990. Together with the installation art
ist S. Chandrasekaran, she helped to transform an old limestone quarry into a sculpture park, creating a work called Flow through the Rocks. In 1993 she received sponsorship from the Singapore International Foundation
to attend the International Painting and Sculpture Symposium in Gulbarga (Kalburgi) in Karnataka
, India, and served on the NAC's Arts Resource Panel between 1993 and 1994.
In 1995, Han was conferred the Cultural Medallion for Art
by the Minister for Communications, Information and the Arts. In her award citation, she was described as "a consummate carver" with "arduous and physically demanding relationships with materials" who had "always been passionate and emphatic about sculpture". She was also a finalist for the Women Inspire Awards 2002, and the winner of the sculpture and painting section at the 11th Triennale – India organized by the Lalit Kala Akademi
(National Academy of Art of India) in 2005 for her Bud, Leaf and Seed Series. The following year, she won the Outstanding City Sculpture Award in China.
In September 2008, Han was one of seven Cultural Medallion winners to receive an $80,000 grant from the NAC's CM Grant programme to fund a project involving site-specific installations based on Singapore flora.
Some of the information in the table above was obtained from .
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
an sculptor
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
. A graduate of the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts
Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts
Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts is one of the oldest and most established tertiary arts institution in Singapore....
(NAFA), East Ham College of Art, Wolverhampton College of Art (now the School of Art and Design of the University of Wolverhampton
University of Wolverhampton
The University of Wolverhampton is a British university located on four campuses across the West Midlands and Shropshire. The city campus is located in Wolverhampton city centre with a second campus at Compton Park, Wolverhampton; a third in Walsall and a fourth in Telford...
) and Lincoln University, New Zealand
Lincoln University, New Zealand
Lincoln University is a New Zealand university that was formed in 1990 when Lincoln College, Canterbury was made independent of the University of Canterbury...
, she worked as a teacher and later as a part-time lecturer at NAFA, the LASALLE-SIA College of the Arts, and the National Institute of Education
National Institute of Education
The is an institute of the , Singapore.NIE, Singapore, provides all levels of teacher education, from programmes to for in-service teachers and executive for Principals, Departmental Heads and other school leaders. NIE also administers postgraduate programmes that lead to the award of in...
, Nanyang Technological University
Nanyang Technological University
Nanyang Technological University is one of the two largest public universities in Singapore with the biggest campus in Singapore and the world's largest engineering college. Its lush 200-hectare Yunnan Garden campus was the Youth Olympic Village of the world's first 2010 Summer Youth Olympics in...
, before becoming a full-time artist in 1997.
Han has participated in exhibitions locally and abroad, including events in China, Denmark, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand and South Korea. Her first solo exhibition
Solo show (art exhibition)
A solo show or solo exhibition is an exhibition of the work of only one artist. The artwork may be paintings, drawings, etchings, collage, sculpture, or photography. The creator of any artistic technique may be the subject of a solo show. Other skills and crafts have similar types of shows for the...
, entitled Four Dimensions, was held at the National Museum Art Gallery
National Museum of Singapore
The National Museum of Singapore is a national museum in Singapore and the oldest museum in Singapore. Its history dates back to 1849 when it was started as a section of a library at Singapore Institution...
in 1993. Her sculptures can be found around the world, in Osaka
Osaka
is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...
and Shōdoshima
Shodoshima
is an island located in the Inland Sea of Japan. The name means literally "Island of Small Beans". There are two towns on the island: Tonoshō and Shōdoshima, comprising the district of Shōzu.The island is famous for its stages of Twenty-Four Eyes...
, Kagawa Prefecture
Kagawa Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located on Shikoku island. The capital is Takamatsu.- History :Kagawa was formerly known as Sanuki Province.For a brief period between August 1876 and December 1888, Kagawa was made a part of Ehime Prefecture.-Battle of Yashima:...
, in Japan; Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...
and Sarawak
Sarawak
Sarawak is one of two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo. Known as Bumi Kenyalang , Sarawak is situated on the north-west of the island. It is the largest state in Malaysia followed by Sabah, the second largest state located to the North- East.The administrative capital is Kuching, which...
in Malaysia; and Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
In Singapore, sculptures commissioned from her can be seen at Capital Tower, the Defence Science Organisation National Laboratories, the Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay
Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay
Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay is a waterside building located on six hectares of waterfront land alongside Marina Bay near the mouth of the Singapore River, purpose-built to be the centre for performing arts for the island nation of Singapore...
, the National Museum of Singapore
National Museum of Singapore
The National Museum of Singapore is a national museum in Singapore and the oldest museum in Singapore. Its history dates back to 1849 when it was started as a section of a library at Singapore Institution...
, Revenue House
Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore
The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore is a statutory board under the Ministry of Finance of the Singapore Government in charge of tax collection.-History:...
, Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 3, Suntec City Mall, and Woodlands Regional Library
Woodlands Regional Library
The Woodlands Regional Library is a regional public library in Woodlands in the North Region of Singapore. It is located within the premises of the Woodlands Civic Centre, near Causeway Point...
. In 2001, Han was the founding President of the Sculpture Society (Singapore) and remains its Honorary President. She was the first artist in residence
Artist in residence
Artist-in-residence programs and other residency opportunities allow visiting artists to stay and work so that they may apply singular focus to their art practice....
at the Society's Sculpture Pavilion at Fort Canning Park in 2009, where she worked on sculptures made from the trunks of tembusu
Tembusu
The Tembusu is a large evergreen tree in the family Gentianaceae. It is native to South-east Asia. Its trunk is dark brown, with deeply fissured bark, looking somewhat like a bittergourd. It grows in an irregular shape from 10 to 25m high . Its leaves are light green and oval in shape...
trees.
Han is probably best known for her stone sculptures with organic forms, examples of which include Growth (1985), Spirit of Nature (1988), Object C (1992) and Seeds (2006). The last work, presently located in the grounds of the National Museum, consists of two large kernels
Seed
A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...
carved from sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
excavated from Fort Canning Hill
Fort Canning
Fort Canning is a small hill slightly more than 60 metres high in the southeast portion of the island city-state of Singapore, within the Central Area that forms Singapore's central business district...
during the Museum's redevelopment. However, her oeuvre is broad, and includes Four Dimensions (1993), a collection of geometrical structures; and 20 Tonnes (2002), also installed at the Museum, which consists of a row of six ridged monolith
Monolith
A monolith is a geological feature such as a mountain, consisting of a single massive stone or rock, or a single piece of rock placed as, or within, a monument...
ic blocks with a smaller block at either end, all hewn from a single granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
rock.
For her contributions to art, Han was conferred the Cultural Medallion for Art
Cultural Medallion
The Cultural Medallion is a Singapore cultural award conferred to those who have achieved artistic excellence in dance, theatre, literature, music, photography, art and film....
in 1995. She was also the winner of the sculpture and painting section at the 11th Triennale – India organized by the Lalit Kala Akademi
Lalit Kala Akademi
The Lalit Kala Akademi or National Academy of Art is India's National Academy of Arts. It was an autonomous organization, established at New Delhi in 1954 by Government of India to promote and propagate understanding of Indian art, both within and outside the country...
(National Academy of Art of India) in 2005, and the Outstanding City Sculpture Award in China the following year.
Early life and education
Han Sai Por was born on 19 July 1943 in SingaporeSingapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
during the Japanese occupation
Japanese Occupation of Singapore
The Japanese occupation of Singapore in World War II occurred between about 1942 and 1945 after the fall of Singapore on 15 February 1942. Military forces of the Empire of Japan occupied Singapore after defeating the combined Australian, British, Indian and Malayan garrison in the Battle of Singapore...
. She was one of six children of a poor couple, and her family were squatters
Squatting
Squatting consists of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied space or building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have permission to use....
living in Changi
Changi
Changi is an area at the eastern end of Singapore. It is now the site of Singapore Changi Airport/Changi Air Base, Changi Naval Base and is also home to Changi Prison, site of the former Japanese Prisoner of War Camp during World War II which held Allied prisoners captured in Singapore and Malaysia...
in a house made of cardboard boxes and coconut leaves. Nonetheless, Han had a happy childhood, and went to a nearby beach to make figurine animals out of sand. This experience helped her to appreciate nature and instilled in her a sense of adventure and exploration. At ten years of age, Han was introduced to Michelangelo
Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni , commonly known as Michelangelo, was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art...
's sculptures through a book given to her by her mother.
Han was educated at Yock Eng High School (now Yuying Secondary School
Yuying Secondary School
Yuying Secondary was founded by the Hainanese Community in 1910 as a Chinese medium high school. At that time, it was located at Prinsep Street and named Yock Eng High School....
) and subsequently at the Singapore Teachers' Training College between 1965 and 1968. While working as a teacher, she attended part-time courses at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts
Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts
Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts is one of the oldest and most established tertiary arts institution in Singapore....
(NAFA) from 1975 to 1977. Having saved some money, she went to the United Kingdom where she studied fine art at the East Ham College of Art (1979–1980) and the Wolverhampton College of Art (1980–1983), receiving a B.A. (Hons.)
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in Fine Art from the latter. She worked as a cook, hotel maid, waitress and street artist
Street artist
A street artist is someone who creates and/or sells their art or craft in public for the pleasure of passers-by.Some people use the term 'street artist' more broadly and also refer to people involved in busking, such as musicians who sing and/or play instruments, acrobats, jugglers, living statues,...
to support herself.
Han returned to Singapore in 1983 and was one of the two pioneer teachers appointed to the new Arts Elective Programme at the Nanyang Girls' High School
Nanyang Girls' High School
Nanyang Girls' High School is an all-girls secondary school in Singapore. It participates in the Integrated Programme with Hwa Chong Institution under the Hwa Chong Affiliate Programme...
. In 1987, to support her personal artistic endeavours, Han also began to teach part time at NAFA, the LASALLE-SIA College of the Arts (both 1987–1993), and the National Institute of Education
National Institute of Education
The is an institute of the , Singapore.NIE, Singapore, provides all levels of teacher education, from programmes to for in-service teachers and executive for Principals, Departmental Heads and other school leaders. NIE also administers postgraduate programmes that lead to the award of in...
, Nanyang Technological University
Nanyang Technological University
Nanyang Technological University is one of the two largest public universities in Singapore with the biggest campus in Singapore and the world's largest engineering college. Its lush 200-hectare Yunnan Garden campus was the Youth Olympic Village of the world's first 2010 Summer Youth Olympics in...
(1994–1996). Subsequently, she pursued further studies in landscape architecture
Landscape architecture
Landscape architecture is the design of outdoor and public spaces to achieve environmental, socio-behavioral, or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic investigation of existing social, ecological, and geological conditions and processes in the landscape, and the design of interventions...
at Lincoln University
Lincoln University, New Zealand
Lincoln University is a New Zealand university that was formed in 1990 when Lincoln College, Canterbury was made independent of the University of Canterbury...
in Lincoln
Lincoln, New Zealand
Lincoln is a town in the Selwyn District of Canterbury, New Zealand. The town has a population of 2,727.-Location:It is located on the Canterbury Plains to the west of Banks Peninsula, 22 kilometres south of Christchurch.-History:...
, Canterbury
Canterbury, New Zealand
The New Zealand region of Canterbury is mainly composed of the Canterbury Plains and the surrounding mountains. Its main city, Christchurch, hosts the main office of the Christchurch City Council, the Canterbury Regional Council - called Environment Canterbury - and the University of Canterbury.-...
, in New Zealand.
Artistic career
Han has participated in exhibitions locally and abroad, including events in China, Denmark, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand and South Korea. Over 24 hours between New Year's Eve 1989 and New Year's Day 1990, she took part in The Time Show organized by The Artists VillageThe Artists Village
The Artists Village is a contemporary art group in Singapore. Founded by contemporary artist Tang Da Wu, it enabled like-minded contemporary artists to critically re-look and examine existing assumptions, values and concepts of art-making in Singapore...
, which has been described as "definitely a high point in the history of art in Singapore when an exceptionally wide spectrum of artists expressing in an equally wide range of mediums participated in a single art event". Han's first solo exhibition
Solo show (art exhibition)
A solo show or solo exhibition is an exhibition of the work of only one artist. The artwork may be paintings, drawings, etchings, collage, sculpture, or photography. The creator of any artistic technique may be the subject of a solo show. Other skills and crafts have similar types of shows for the...
was Four Dimensions at the National Museum Art Gallery
National Museum of Singapore
The National Museum of Singapore is a national museum in Singapore and the oldest museum in Singapore. Its history dates back to 1849 when it was started as a section of a library at Singapore Institution...
from 18 to 28 February 1993. Other solo shows she has given in Singapore are Rainforest (Plastique Kinetic Worms, 1999) and 20 Tonnes – Physical Consequences (Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts
Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts
The Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts is a ministry of the Government of Singapore...
ARTrium, 2002).
Han became a full-time sculptor in 1997. Her works can be found around the world: Childhood Dream (1992) at the Uchinomi-cho
Uchinomi, Kagawa
Uchinomi was a town located in Shōzu District, Kagawa, Japan on Shodoshima, an island in the Inland Sea.On March 21, 2006 Uchinomi was merged with the town of Ikeda, also from Shōzu District, to form the new town of Shōdoshima and no longer exists as an independent municipality.As of 2003, the...
Town Hall Garden on the island of Shōdoshima
Shodoshima
is an island located in the Inland Sea of Japan. The name means literally "Island of Small Beans". There are two towns on the island: Tonoshō and Shōdoshima, comprising the district of Shōzu.The island is famous for its stages of Twenty-Four Eyes...
in Kagawa Prefecture
Kagawa Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located on Shikoku island. The capital is Takamatsu.- History :Kagawa was formerly known as Sanuki Province.For a brief period between August 1876 and December 1888, Kagawa was made a part of Ehime Prefecture.-Battle of Yashima:...
, Japan; Pisces (1993) at the Yashiro Hoshi-no Choukoku Centre Park in Osaka
Osaka
is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...
, Japan; Spirit of Nature III (1990) at the Kuching
Kuching
Kuching , officially the City of Kuching, and formerly the City of Sarawak, is the capital and most populous city of the East Malaysian state of Sarawak. It is the largest city on the island of Borneo, and the fourth largest city in Malaysia....
Waterfront Development in Sarawak
Sarawak
Sarawak is one of two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo. Known as Bumi Kenyalang , Sarawak is situated on the north-west of the island. It is the largest state in Malaysia followed by Sabah, the second largest state located to the North- East.The administrative capital is Kuching, which...
, Malaysia; Towards Peace (1987) in the Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...
Lake Gardens, Malaysia; and Cactus, Tropical Leaves (both 1994) and The Wave of Life at the Embassy of Singapore in Washington, D.C. In Singapore, sculptures commissioned from her can be seen at Capital Tower (Shimmering Pearls I, 1999), the Defence Science Organisation National Laboratories (Tropical Brain Forest, 2003), the Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay
Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay
Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay is a waterside building located on six hectares of waterfront land alongside Marina Bay near the mouth of the Singapore River, purpose-built to be the centre for performing arts for the island nation of Singapore...
(Seed Series, 1998), the National Museum of Singapore
National Museum of Singapore
The National Museum of Singapore is a national museum in Singapore and the oldest museum in Singapore. Its history dates back to 1849 when it was started as a section of a library at Singapore Institution...
(20 Tonnes, 2002; and Seeds, 2006), One Marina Boulevard
One Marina Boulevard
One Marina Boulevard, sometimes called NTUC Centre, is a high-rise skyscraper located in the central business district of Singapore. It is located on 1 Marina Boulevard, in the zone of Raffles Place and Marina Bay. The building is near other skyscrapers, such as One Raffles Quay, The Sail @ Marina...
(Progressive Flows, 2004), Orchard MRT Station
Orchard MRT Station
Orchard MRT Station is located on the North South Line of the Mass Rapid Transit and is located along Orchard Road, Singapore. Some of its platform livery is maroon in colour, but most of that are black with marbles....
(Goddess of Happiness, 1985), Revenue House
Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore
The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore is a statutory board under the Ministry of Finance of the Singapore Government in charge of tax collection.-History:...
(Spring, 1996), Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 3 (Flora Inspiration, 2007), Singapore Changi Airport VIP Complex (Singapore – A Garden City, 2004), Suntec City Mall (Chinese Zodiac Medallions, 1995), UOB Plaza
UOB Plaza
United Overseas Bank Plaza is a complex with twin tower late-modernist skyscrapers in the city of Singapore. UOB Plaza One is one of the three tallest in the city, sharing the title with the OUB Centre and Republic Plaza...
(Two Figures, 1993), and Woodlands Regional Library
Woodlands Regional Library
The Woodlands Regional Library is a regional public library in Woodlands in the North Region of Singapore. It is located within the premises of the Woodlands Civic Centre, near Causeway Point...
(Rain Forest).
In 2001, Han was the founding President of the Sculpture Society (Singapore), and remains its Honorary President. In May 2009, she was the first artist in residence
Artist in residence
Artist-in-residence programs and other residency opportunities allow visiting artists to stay and work so that they may apply singular focus to their art practice....
at the Society's Sculpture Pavilion at Fort Canning Park where she worked on sculptures made from the trunks of tembusu
Tembusu
The Tembusu is a large evergreen tree in the family Gentianaceae. It is native to South-east Asia. Its trunk is dark brown, with deeply fissured bark, looking somewhat like a bittergourd. It grows in an irregular shape from 10 to 25m high . Its leaves are light green and oval in shape...
trees. The project, sponsored by the Asia Pacific Breweries Foundation
Asia Pacific Breweries
Asia Pacific Breweries is an Asian brewery company founded as Malayan Breweries Limited in 1931, in a joint venture between Heineken International and Fraser and Neave, and given its present name in 1990. It currently controls 30 breweries in 12 countries in the Asia Pacific region, selling over...
Inspire Programme, was intended to provide sculptors and installation artists with studio space and a chance to interact with the public in a park environment. Han is a member of the Fourth Singapore Note and Coin Advisory Committee from 1 July 2008 until 30 June 2011, where her duties include advising the Monetary Authority of Singapore
Monetary Authority of Singapore
The Monetary Authority of Singapore is Singapore's central bank and financial regulatory authority...
on designs for new currency.
In 2005, with the assistance of the National Arts Council (NAC) and the Jurong Town Corporation
JTC Corporation
JTC Corporation , formerly the Jurong Town Corporation, is Singapore's principal developer and manager of industrial estates and their related facilities.-History:JTC was established on 1 June 1968 to develop industrial estates...
(JTC), she relocated from Seletar Air Base to Workloft@Wessex, a walk-up apartment in Wessex Estate which had been converted by JTC from an army camp into an artists' village.
Art
Han is probably best known for her stone sculptures with organic forms; she sees her sculpture has having "a force or inner life inside struggling to get out". Having a preference for graniteGranite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
and marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
, she has said: "Stone is one of my favourite materials. In the erosion of rock by wind and water are found original, vital qualities which express the significance of life." Han often purchases stone using her own resources from quarries in China, Italy, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore. The cost of just the material for solo exhibition pieces can be up to S$
Singapore dollar
The Singapore dollar or Dollar is the official currency of Singapore. It is normally abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or alternatively S$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies...
20,000. Nonetheless, she is motivated by the encouragement, recognition and acknowledgement her art she receives from others. Examples of Han's sculptures of this genre include Growth (1985), a set of five pear-shaped forms in white marble; Spirit of Nature (1988), three black granite ovoid and spheroid forms; Object C (1992), a pale grey granite object resembling a canoe; and Seeds (2006), large kernels
Seed
A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...
carved from sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
excavated from Fort Canning Hill
Fort Canning
Fort Canning is a small hill slightly more than 60 metres high in the southeast portion of the island city-state of Singapore, within the Central Area that forms Singapore's central business district...
during the National Museum's redevelopment. Art historian and critic T.K. Sabapathy has commented that Han is concerned with the uneasy relation between men and nature in the modern era, and has expressed a desire for people to realize that "[we] are part of nature and not apart from nature". In addition, he has said:
Beyond Han's sculptures which embrace organic forms, she has also designed geometric pieces. Four Dimensions (1993) was made up of ten geometrical structures, including single objects (such as Tetrahedron–Tetrahedron Interpenetration) and opened-up planes (Cubic Triangle) connected with each other through the use of angles, and light and shadow. Han said: "My works are based on the concept of mathematical logic. The idea is to show how each step is based on the previous one so that the geometrical forms progress in logical sequence ... The fourth dimension is abstract. It cannot be seen or touched. It contains the feelings and talents of Mankind. We wish to possess this space and to open it up for all people to share." Sabapathy was somewhat critical of these works, saying that they dealt only with techniques and fabrication and did not "disclose fresh insights into space and its articulation". He expressed the hope that Han would stay the course and deepen her investigation beyond form into an exploration of light, colour and materials to "create environments in which form, space and time can be seen to be related in ever-changing yet intelligent systems".
20 Tonnes, first exhibited in 2002 in the atrium of the MICA Building
Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts
The Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts is a ministry of the Government of Singapore...
(formerly the Old Hill Street Police Station
Old Hill Street Police Station
The Old Hill Street Police Station is a historic building in Singapore, and is located at Hill Street in the Museum Planning Area, within the Central Area, Singapore's central business district.-History:...
) and now permanently installed in front of the National Museum, consists of a row of six ridged monolith
Monolith
A monolith is a geological feature such as a mountain, consisting of a single massive stone or rock, or a single piece of rock placed as, or within, a monument...
ic granite blocks with a smaller block at either end, all hewn from a single rock. Han called the work "an explanation of nature's physical reaction when it is impacted by force, gravity and energy", and commented: "When I am working on stone, the immediate context is physical, the force of hammering, chiseling and drilling hard stone creates heat and energy. The reaction of the particles causes sparks and waves of sound. The appearance of the stone is the result, the consequent physical reaction. Understanding the character of nature through the physical context has become part of my sculpture."
According to art curator Tay Swee Lin, Han's sculptures "exude smooth, sensual lines that are quietly engaging and tactile", and her art "is a testimony of beauty with meditative quietness belying a resilience and strength that stone and metal encompass. The artist's personal relationship with her art is one that is complete – her sculptures are crafted by hand from start to finish; painstakingly carved, sanded and polished. ... In land scarce Singapore, Han's work encapsulates the appreciation and understanding of the delicate balance of nature that exists in an urban environment."
In the catalogue accompanying her Four Dimensions exhibition, Han said: "Postmodernism
Postmodern art
Postmodern art is a term used to describe an art movement which was thought to be in contradiction to some aspect of modernism, or to have emerged or developed in its aftermath...
accepts the facts that art does not follow any rigid man-made rules. If the artist says, 'this is art' then it is art, provided only that the artist can demonstrate a valuable idea or concept. Art needs man to judge and decide whether it is indeed art."
Awards and honours
In 1988, Han won the Best Entry Award from the Singapore National Theatre Trust for her participation in a show entitled Basics at the National Museum Art Gallery. She was awarded a scholarship for the Portland Sculpture Park on the Isle of PortlandIsle of Portland
The Isle of Portland is a limestone tied island, long by wide, in the English Channel. Portland is south of the resort of Weymouth, forming the southernmost point of the county of Dorset, England. A tombolo over which runs the A354 road connects it to Chesil Beach and the mainland. Portland and...
in Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
, England, by the Arts Council of Great Britain
Arts Council of Great Britain
The Arts Council of Great Britain was a non-departmental public body dedicated to the promotion of the fine arts in Great Britain. The Arts Council of Great Britain was divided in 1994 to form the Arts Council of England , the Scottish Arts Council, and the Arts Council of Wales...
and the National Arts Council (NAC) in 1990. Together with the installation art
Installation art
Installation art describes an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space. Generally, the term is applied to interior spaces, whereas exterior interventions are often called Land art; however, the boundaries between...
ist S. Chandrasekaran, she helped to transform an old limestone quarry into a sculpture park, creating a work called Flow through the Rocks. In 1993 she received sponsorship from the Singapore International Foundation
Singapore International Foundation
The Singapore International Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation that aims to build a better world through shared ideas, skills and experiences, so as to uplift lives and create greater understanding between Singaporeans and world communities....
to attend the International Painting and Sculpture Symposium in Gulbarga (Kalburgi) in Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
, India, and served on the NAC's Arts Resource Panel between 1993 and 1994.
In 1995, Han was conferred the Cultural Medallion for Art
Cultural Medallion
The Cultural Medallion is a Singapore cultural award conferred to those who have achieved artistic excellence in dance, theatre, literature, music, photography, art and film....
by the Minister for Communications, Information and the Arts. In her award citation, she was described as "a consummate carver" with "arduous and physically demanding relationships with materials" who had "always been passionate and emphatic about sculpture". She was also a finalist for the Women Inspire Awards 2002, and the winner of the sculpture and painting section at the 11th Triennale – India organized by the Lalit Kala Akademi
Lalit Kala Akademi
The Lalit Kala Akademi or National Academy of Art is India's National Academy of Arts. It was an autonomous organization, established at New Delhi in 1954 by Government of India to promote and propagate understanding of Indian art, both within and outside the country...
(National Academy of Art of India) in 2005 for her Bud, Leaf and Seed Series. The following year, she won the Outstanding City Sculpture Award in China.
In September 2008, Han was one of seven Cultural Medallion winners to receive an $80,000 grant from the NAC's CM Grant programme to fund a project involving site-specific installations based on Singapore flora.
Major exhibitions
| Dates | Title | Medium | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | 2nd Asian Art Show | Fukuoka Art Museum Fukuoka Fukuoka, Fukuoka is the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture and is situated on the northern shore of the island of Kyushu in Japan.Voted number 14 in a 2010 poll of the World's Most Livable Cities, Fukuoka is praised for its green spaces in a metropolitan setting. It is the most populous city in Kyushu, followed by... , Japan |
|
| 1985 | Singapore Sculpture Exhibition | Sculpture | National Museum Art Gallery National Museum of Singapore The National Museum of Singapore is a national museum in Singapore and the oldest museum in Singapore. Its history dates back to 1849 when it was started as a section of a library at Singapore Institution... Singapore |
| 1986 | Contemporary Asian Art Show | National Museum of Modern Art Seoul Seoul Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world... , South Korea |
|
| 1987 | Towards Peace: 5th Asian Sculpture Symposium | Sculpture | Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million... , Malaysia |
| 1988 | Basics | Sculpture | National Museum Art Gallery Singapore |
| 1989 | 3rd Asian Art Show | Fukuoka Art Museum Fukuoka, Japan |
|
| September 1989 | Six Men Sculpture Exhibition | Sculpture | Orchard Point Exhibition Hall Singapore |
| 31 December 1989 – 1 January 1990 |
The Time Show | The Artists Village The Artists Village The Artists Village is a contemporary art group in Singapore. Founded by contemporary artist Tang Da Wu, it enabled like-minded contemporary artists to critically re-look and examine existing assumptions, values and concepts of art-making in Singapore... Singapore |
|
| 16 November – 15 December 1991 |
Sculpture in Singapore | Sculpture | National Museum Art Gallery Singapore |
| 1991 | Quarry Art Exhibition | Sculpture | British Council British Council The British Council is a United Kingdom-based organisation specialising in international educational and cultural opportunities. It is registered as a charity both in England and Wales, and in Scotland... Singapore |
| 1992 | Shodoshima International Sculpture Symposium | Sculpture | Shōdoshima Shodoshima, Kagawa is a town located in Shōzu District, Kagawa, Japan on Shodoshima, an island in the Seto Inland Sea. The town was formed on March 21, 2006 from the merger of the towns of Ikeda and Uchinomi, both from Shōzu District.... , Kagawa Prefecture Kagawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on Shikoku island. The capital is Takamatsu.- History :Kagawa was formerly known as Sanuki Province.For a brief period between August 1876 and December 1888, Kagawa was made a part of Ehime Prefecture.-Battle of Yashima:... , Japan |
| 18–28 February 1993 | Four Dimensions (solo exhibition Solo show (art exhibition) A solo show or solo exhibition is an exhibition of the work of only one artist. The artwork may be paintings, drawings, etchings, collage, sculpture, or photography. The creator of any artistic technique may be the subject of a solo show. Other skills and crafts have similar types of shows for the... ) |
Sculpture installation Installation art Installation art describes an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space. Generally, the term is applied to interior spaces, whereas exterior interventions are often called Land art; however, the boundaries between... |
National Museum Art Gallery Singapore |
| 22 May – 6 June 1993 |
ESPACE 3356 | Raffles City Raffles City Raffles City is a large complex located in the Civic District within the Downtown Core of the city-state of Singapore. Occupying an entire city block bounded by Stamford Road, Beach Road, Bras Basah Road and North Bridge Road, it houses two hotels and an office tower over a podium which contains a... Atrium and The Substation The Substation The Substation is Singapore's first and only independent contemporary arts centre. It was founded in 1990 by Kuo Pao Kun.The Substation is centrally located in the city's civic district. Venues at The Substation for hire include a black-box theatre, a gallery, a dance studio, the Random Room and... Gallery, Singapore |
|
| 1993 | Yashiro International Sculpture Symposium | Sculpture | Yashiro Yashiro, Hyogo was a town located in Katō District, Hyōgo, Japan.As of 2003, the town had an estimated population of 21,409 and a density of 244.95 persons per km²... , Hyōgo Prefecture Hyogo Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region on Honshū island. The capital is Kobe.The prefecture's name was previously alternately spelled as Hiogo.- History :... , Japan |
| 1996 | Højer International Sculpture Symposium | Sculpture (Wonder Wall, Vejle Vejle Vejle is a town in Denmark, in the southeast of the Jutland Peninsula at the head of Vejle Fjord, where the Vejle and Grejs Rivers and their valleys converge. It is the site of the councils of Vejle Municipality and the Region of Southern Denmark... ) |
Højer Højer Højer , is a town with a population of 1,255 and a former municipality in south Denmark, in Region of Southern Denmark on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula. The municipality covered an area of 117 km², and had a total population of 2,861... , Denmark |
| 1997 | International Snow Sculpture | Sculpture | Quebec Quebec Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level.... , Canada |
| 29 August– 11 October 1998 |
IMPRINTS on Singapore Art: Works of 40 Nafa Artists | Sculpture | Singapore Art Museum Singapore Art Museum The Singapore Art Museum contains the national art collection of Singapore. It has a collection of 7,750 pieces of Singaporean and Southeast Asian modern and contemporary art, and has an expanding collection of new Asian and international contemporary art.- History :Officially opened in 1996, it... Singapore |
| 1999 | Rainforest (solo exhibition) |
Charcoal and ink drawings, sculpture | Plastique Kinetic Worms Singapore |
| Three and a half months from 21 May 1999 | Volume and Form | Sculpture | Singapore |
| 2000 | Art in the Park 2000 | Sculpture (Fern) | Christchurch Christchurch Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of... , New Zealand |
| 2000 | Orchid Journey | Sculpture installation | Suzhou Suzhou Suzhou , previously transliterated as Su-chou, Suchow, and Soochow, is a major city located in the southeast of Jiangsu Province in Eastern China, located adjacent to Shanghai Municipality. The city is situated on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and on the shores of Taihu Lake and is a part... , Jiangsu Jiangsu ' is a province of the People's Republic of China, located along the east coast of the country. The name comes from jiang, short for the city of Jiangning , and su, for the city of Suzhou. The abbreviation for this province is "苏" , the second character of its name... , China |
| 12 September– 18 November 2001 |
Pulp Friction: Materials in Contemporary Art | Sculpture | Singapore Art Museum Singapore |
| 21 June 2002 | Borrowed Scenery | Site-specific work Site-specific art Site-specific art is artwork created to exist in a certain place. Typically, the artist takes the location into account while planning and creating the artwork... |
Indonesia |
| 13–24 March 2002 | 20 Tonnes – Physical Consequences (solo exhibition) |
Sculpture installation | Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts The Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts is a ministry of the Government of Singapore... ARTrium Singapore |
| 2003 | Yogyakarta Arts Festival | Sculpture (Inside the Bamboo Forest) | Yogyakarta, Indonesia |
| 14 January – 10 February 2005 |
XI Triennale – India | Drawings, sculpture | Crafts Museum New Delhi New Delhi New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is... , India |
| 30 March – 20 May 2005 |
Selected Artworks by Han Sai Por and Ahmad Osni Peii | Sculpture | Sculpture Square Singapore |
| 13 January – 5 March 2006 |
1 Singapore Artist: Han Sai Por (solo exhibition) |
Sculpture | Sculpture Square Singapore |
| 20 December 2008– 17 January 2009 |
Nanyang 70 Years After: A Reunion of Artists in the Academy | Sculpture | Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts is one of the oldest and most established tertiary arts institution in Singapore.... Singapore |
Some of the information in the table above was obtained from .